Liberty: Essence Carson relying on resiliency

Her screams filled the arena, silencing the crowd with the sheer agony they carried.

Essence Carson lie writhing on the court, her face twisted in a rictus of pain as she cradled her left knee.

A shaken Cappie Pondexter stared down helplessly at her friend. Coach Bill Laimbeer turned away, not wanting to watch.

Carson doesn't remember exactly how long she wailed. Maybe it was a minute. Maybe it was 90 seconds.

It seemed like forever.

"It felt like someone took a baseball bat and swung it at your knee and hit you dead on," Carson said. "I just yelled and yelled."

The Liberty guard/forward heard the sickening, telltale pop last June in Atlanta as she tried to plant her foot for a fast-break layup. The Paterson native knew what it meant.

Her anterior cruciate ligament had snapped like "a pencil." And with the joint-stabilizing ACL torn, Carson's tibia and femur collided with such force that it caused a bone bruise, a doctor later explained.

Eleven months later, she still is learning to trust that knee again following a long, grueling recovery. But Carson returned for the start of training camp last month and is averaging 10 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as the Liberty (1-1) opened their season last week.

The physical healing is done. What remains is psychological: regaining full confidence in the body that made her an All-American for Eastside High School, then an All-Big East selection and three-time conference Defensive Player of the Year at Rutgers.

It's the same body that made Carson, 27, the seventh overall pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft, a 2011 All-Star and one of the league's best defenders.

"You just have to trust yourself," Carson said. "I have to stop letting my mind say, 'Hey! Be careful! Be careful!' "

She has overcome far bigger obstacles.

The adversities of her past are now a reservoir of strength, one she tapped into on those difficult days when she relearned to walk and run.

Carson grew up in a rough Paterson neighborhood raised by her grandparents. She was 11 when she lost her dad, Joseph, who died of a progressive neurodegenerative disease. She witnessed her mother, Stacey Robinson, battle breast cancer in 2006.

And then she was thrust into the national spotlight in 2007 by Don Imus' racist, sexist comments about the Rutgers women.

"I guess you can say that [toughness] was instilled in me when I was just a kid from my family," said Carson, one of best players to come out of Passaic County. "Just coming from Paterson, having to work for everything. Nothing was ever handed to me."

The recovery process began moments after she stopped screaming, when the pain mysteriously subsided after about 90 seconds.

Carson understood that reconstructive surgery was inevitable. So she steeled herself for it, vowing to return for the first day of training camp even before receiving a diagnosis.

"I saw my mom fight cancer, and she survived. You know what? An ACL is nothing," said Carson, who has averaged 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in her seven seasons.

Pondexter, also Carson's teammate at Rutgers, is amazed how determined she was to return.

"That same day she cried, but she also smiled," Pondexter said. "She was like, 'I'm going to get through it.' ''

The 6-foot Carson would need that attitude.

Rehab began in earnest immediately after surgery, when doctors told her to start bending the knee. With the pain medication still coursing through her system, it wasn't too difficult at first.

Then the meds wore off.

"The hard part is bending your knee when it's all swollen and it doesn't want to move," Carson said. "It's very painful, but you have to do it.

"You have to do it several times a day."

The graceful, explosive athlete found herself relearning the simplest tasks. She poured herself into it, working five days a week with a therapist and constantly on her own. She spent her spare time obsessing over her three-point shot — the only part of her game she could hone.

"She's inspired me honestly," Pondexter said.

With no basketball to occupy her time, Carson also devoted herself to her other love — music.

An accomplished musician who plays five instruments, she released her first album last year as the hip-hop artist, Pr3pE ("Preppy").

But she bided her time to return to the floor. Carson has regained most of her quickness and is expected to have it all back within six months. The final stage of her recovery is mental.

Liberty: Essence Carson relying on resiliency

Her screams filled the arena, silencing the crowd with the sheer agony they carried.

Essence Carson lie writhing on the court, her face twisted in a rictus of pain as she cradled her left knee.

A shaken Cappie Pondexter stared down helplessly at her friend. Coach Bill Laimbeer turned away, not wanting to watch.

Carson doesn't remember exactly how long she wailed. Maybe it was a minute. Maybe it was 90 seconds.

It seemed like forever.

"It felt like someone took a baseball bat and swung it at your knee and hit you dead on," Carson said. "I just yelled and yelled."

The Liberty guard/forward heard the sickening, telltale pop last June in Atlanta as she tried to plant her foot for a fast-break layup. The Paterson native knew what it meant.

Her anterior cruciate ligament had snapped like "a pencil." And with the joint-stabilizing ACL torn, Carson's tibia and femur collided with such force that it caused a bone bruise, a doctor later explained.

Eleven months later, she still is learning to trust that knee again following a long, grueling recovery. But Carson returned for the start of training camp last month and is averaging 10 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as the Liberty (1-1) opened their season last week.

The physical healing is done. What remains is psychological: regaining full confidence in the body that made her an All-American for Eastside High School, then an All-Big East selection and three-time conference Defensive Player of the Year at Rutgers.

It's the same body that made Carson, 27, the seventh overall pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft, a 2011 All-Star and one of the league's best defenders.

"You just have to trust yourself," Carson said. "I have to stop letting my mind say, 'Hey! Be careful! Be careful!' "

She has overcome far bigger obstacles.

The adversities of her past are now a reservoir of strength, one she tapped into on those difficult days when she relearned to walk and run.

Carson grew up in a rough Paterson neighborhood raised by her grandparents. She was 11 when she lost her dad, Joseph, who died of a progressive neurodegenerative disease. She witnessed her mother, Stacey Robinson, battle breast cancer in 2006.

And then she was thrust into the national spotlight in 2007 by Don Imus' racist, sexist comments about the Rutgers women.

"I guess you can say that [toughness] was instilled in me when I was just a kid from my family," said Carson, one of best players to come out of Passaic County. "Just coming from Paterson, having to work for everything. Nothing was ever handed to me."

The recovery process began moments after she stopped screaming, when the pain mysteriously subsided after about 90 seconds.

Carson understood that reconstructive surgery was inevitable. So she steeled herself for it, vowing to return for the first day of training camp even before receiving a diagnosis.

"I saw my mom fight cancer, and she survived. You know what? An ACL is nothing," said Carson, who has averaged 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in her seven seasons.

Pondexter, also Carson's teammate at Rutgers, is amazed how determined she was to return.